Klarinet Archive - Posting 000267.txt from 2010/10

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Eb Name
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:56:00 -0400

klarinet-request@-----.com wrote:
> No, it's actually called a sopranino, but I don't know why.

Perhaps the best one can do is say there is no universal agreement on
the naming. Some writers use the term "sopranino" for the D and Eb
instruments, but the most common usage has those as "soprano", with
"sopranino" reserved for the little G and Ab clarinets found in Eastern
European and Klezmer music.

Wikipedia doesn't help. The three main articles ("clarinet", "soprano
clarinet", "sopranino clarinet") are not consistent, and the main
"clarinet" article is not even self-consistent.

> Being half the size of an alto clarinet, soprano would be more
> appropriate.

Yes. I think you can argue that the saxophone family has a more
sensible naming scheme than clarinets. Using that scheme, what we call
"bass clarinet" would be "tenor", our "contraalto" would be "baritone",
and our "contrabass" would be "bass".

--
Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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